The present invention is directed to conveyor systems, and more particularly to floor and ceiling mounted conveyor systems including an integral, one-piece extended guide track for supporting a conveyor chain.
Various conveyors and guide tracks have been proposed in the art. In particular, mechanical conveyors have been used in the industry for transporting articles from one part of, for example, an industrial plant or warehouse to another. The more commonly used conveyors are the ones which transport goods in cartons, boxes and the like. One typical .example is a conveyor belt assembly wherein an endless conveyor belt travels over a bed formed of rollers positioned transversely along the path of travel of the conveyor belt. Other conveyor systems use a conveyor chain that travels along a slot in the conveyor track and supports a weight-bearing member for articles being conveyed along the conveyor.
The conventional conveyor assemblies and guide tracks pose limitations and difficulties in use and operation. For example, they are generally limited to a straight path of travel, and multiple belts and the associated drive mechanisms are required to accommodate a curved path of travel. In addition, guide tracks suffer from the disadvantage that they are limited in there function to support the load carrying chain, and additional mechanisms have to be provided in the vicinity for accommodating associated utilities. This generally leads to a conveyor system which is complicated and difficult to adjust to various necessary mechanisms of the system. The examples of conventional systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,731,136; 3,605,994; 4,358,010; 4,484,677; 4,511,031; 4,545,477; and 4,562,921.
Accordingly, there is a need in the conveyor art for a guide track that offers the infinite flexibility in precision alignment and placement of various accessory devices on the conveyor and wherein the conveyor is not limited to a straight path of travel.